Founder of TikTok owner ByteDance Zhang Yiming makes fresh donation while keeping a low profile

The entrepreneur is adding nearly US$29 million to a charitable education fund in his hometown, his first bout of publicity since 2021

Zhang has avoided the spotlight and lived primarily overseas since stepping down as CEO and chairman of ByteDance nearly two years ago

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Zhang Yiming (centre) visits his old school Yongding No 1 Middle School in southwestern Fujian province in June 2021. Photo: Longyan Education Bureau

Published: 9:00pm, 4 May 2023

Zhang Yiming, the 40-year-old founder of TikTok owner ByteDance, has donated another 200 million yuan (US$28.9 million) to an education fund he created two years ago, a municipal education authority said in a statement on Thursday, offering a rare glimpse of the Chinese entrepreneur’s activity after disappearing from the public spotlight nearly two years ago.

The education bureau of Longyan, Zhang’s home city of 2.7 million people in southeastern Fujian province, announced the new donation in a statement on Thursday. It adds to the initial 500 million yuan he gave in 2021.

The money will “be used to support educational public welfare projects, such as vocational and art education in the city”, the bureau said in the statement published to WeChat.

Zhang has carefully avoided publicly acknowledging his whereabouts since he relinquished his roles as CEO and chairman at ByteDance in 2021 – although he remains as a key decision-maker in his business empire that includes TikTok and Douyin, the Chinese version of the hit short video app. The Information reported in September that Zhang, the second-richest person in China, spent most of 2022 living overseas, primarily based out of Singapore, where TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is also based.

The last photo of Zhang to be published was during his 2021 Longyan visit, while at Yongding No 1 Middle School, which he attended. The education bureau used the same photograph with the latest announcement.